Cooling Hot Summer Sheets
by Tozz
Summary: BtN. Conclusion to Claire trilogy. Starting the summer off with a marriage proposal weighing heavily on her mind, eighteen-year-old Claire spends the rest of her stay in Mineral Town trying to figure out who she's meant to be with.
1. Chapter 1

It's hard to leave your bed / The cooling hot summer sheets...

One night he'll make you choose / I am sorry but he will / The hardscape or your shoes / When the moon's behind the hill

If you haven't yet read Summer Skin and Like Gold in the Air of Summer, please do so before starting this fic! :)

It's finally here... The third and final part of the Claire series. Sorry for the long wait.

When I first started writing Like Gold over two years ago, I heard the song Coffee Girl by The Tragically Hip, and it was a big source of inspiration for me for this part of the story. I feel like it describes a lot of the feeling I wanted to convey, particularly from perspectives other than Claire's.

Anyway, this first chapter is pretty melodramatic. And it's really just a set-up for the rest of the story... But hopefully you'll enjoy it. What I like least about this chapter is that there's no Jack! Haha. I got pretty fond of him. He'll come soon, I promise.

Here we go! Thanks to those of you who have stuck around.

Oh, and as a side note, I put a poll up on my profile about who you think Claire's going to end up with. :) I'd love to see your votes as the story goes on, though it's not going to affect how I've already planned the story.

x x x

**Chapter 1**

It was my last summer before I entered the "real world"—that's how my mom put it. I always hated that saying, like life before a person turns eighteen is some sort of fantasy and doesn't really count for anything.

Anyway, no matter what you want to call it, it was the summer after I graduated high school, and I felt glad for the reprieve it gave me before I had to go off to college.

Though if the past two summers were any indication, my last visit to Mineral Town before embarking on my journey to adulthood would be anything but peaceful.

x x x

We tried to make it feel like it was all the same, but already everything was different.

Popuri and Rick were there to meet me when I got off the ferry just like they always were. Popuri was as dazzling as ever, and I could tell she'd lost some weight—not that she needed to, but she looked good. She threw her arms around me the second I was within grabbing distance, and as I hugged her back I looked over her shoulder at Rick, who was standing back a few paces, uncertain. It looked like he'd gotten a haircut recently—his hair, which usually hung to about his shoulders, had shrunk back up to his ears. He looked more polished that way, older, and I could suddenly feel the years between us. He'd turn twenty-two that year.

Lillia and Zack were there this time, too. They stood behind Popuri and Rick, and Zack had his arm around Lillia's waist, her tiny body fitting snugly against his. As I approached them, Lillia stroked my arm and Zack ruffled my hair.

On the way over to Chicken Lil's, Popuri filled me in on the details of the gossip I'd missed out on, Lillia occasionally clucking when her daughter said too much. As I listened, I realized how little Popuri and I had spoken in the past year. There were phone calls and letters, but much fewer than the year before. I knew we were both busy, but it made me sad to think even our relationship was changing.

Listening to her, I also noticed that Jack was conspicuously absent from all of her stories. I guess she didn't want to think about him much after what had happened the year before. However, her talk of Kai easily glossed over any missing pieces.

They'd started dating, or at least I was pretty sure they had—Popuri was always very flighty on the specifics. I got the feeling she was nervous about putting a label on it, because the last time she did that with Kai, she'd been disappointed. But from the sound of things, Kai was treating her well.

Popuri made it easy to be happy for her, thank goodness. You could see how pleased she was with every bouncy step, her bliss manifesting itself in her every move. It made the stupid jealousy I felt easier to ignore—_look at how happy she is, _I could tell myself._ Look, doesn't that make it better? You didn't deserve Kai, anyway. You never really wanted him in the first place, not as much as she did._

And besides, Rick and I were still together. Sort of. Well, no, we definitely were together, but I wasn't always sure how I felt about that. It made me anxious sometimes, because I couldn't get the nightmarish image of him wanting to marry me out of my head. He'd backed way off since last summer, when I'd told him I wanted to take things slow, but the fear was burned into me, lingering every time I thought about him.

"We're going to dinner tonight," Popuri told me, once we'd settled in at Chicken Lil's. We sat around the table in the dining room where I'd eaten so many of my meals as a child. The house seemed so much bigger now that Lillia had moved out, even though she was standing in the room. She'd moved in with Zack, in his little cabin on the beach. I thought of the last time I'd been in that cabin, two summers before during a storm. But that was so long ago. It wasn't worth remembering.

"We are?" I asked, glancing across the table at Rick, but his expression gave no explanation. "Who? The five of us?"

"No, six," Popuri said, and it seemed she was taking extreme care not to look in her brother's direction. "Kai's coming with us too."

"Oh, is he?" I cocked an eyebrow, but neither sibling responded to my disbelief. Lillia and Zack stayed quiet. I gave up and tried another question. "So, where are we eating?"

"The inn," Popuri answered, and of course I'd already known she'd say that. It wasn't like there was anywhere else to go in Mineral Town—and besides, I could hardly picture us all sitting around this table like a family. I snorted out a laugh, causing Popuri to shoot me a queer look.

Rick, Popuri and I got quiet then, the three of us lapsing into deep contemplation. Rick was probably going off on some inner monologue about how awful Kai was, and Popuri was already daydreaming about the dinner and how perfect she hoped it would be, even though it was doomed. Lillia and Zack started chatting in attempt to steer the conversation towards something more lively. As for me, I almost broke into a cold sweat at the thought of seeing Popuri and Kai together. It made me sick to think of it, but I felt just as horrid for my envy in the first place. Maybe I was just destined to be one of those girls, the pathetic kind, the kind that just had to have the one thing they couldn't.

x x x

As usual, Popuri, looking for an excuse to treat me like a doll, made me dress up for the dinner. I'd grown so used to it, I didn't even wince as she pulled out a couple of hairs tying it up. The dress she lent me wasn't as loose in the chest, I noticed with some satisfaction, though it strained and puckered slightly across my waist. Oh, well. Popuri assured me it was fine.

Once I was ready, Popuri started getting herself primped, and I wandered out of her room and into the hall, straight into Rick.

"Oh, hi there," he said, his hands resting lightly on my arms. They were so warm. "I was just going to check if you two were ready yet. Mom and Zack are waiting downstairs."

"Yeah, um, you know Popuri. She'll be out soon." I looked him up and down as discreetly as possible, took in his dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, a small tan triangle in view. Paired with his new haircut, he looked undeniably good. Really good. I was starting to forget why I'd wanted to push him away so badly.

"You look great," he said softly, and I wished the hallway light was turned on then. It was too dark for words like those—it made me nervous.

I laughed, but it came out funny and high. "Oh, thanks. Popuri's always been good at making me look presentable. I really like this dress, the pattern's really nice…" I was babbling and I knew it, but that didn't make me stop. It felt safer to fill the space between us with superficiality.

"I didn't mean that," he said, interrupting me. "I mean, yeah, the dress is nice. But I meant _you_. Makeup or not, you look amazing."

Oh, shit. And then my mind was off, prancing through fields of giddiness and girlishness and foolishness, and I couldn't stop it any longer.

Amazing, he'd said I looked _amazing_. He'd said great, too, hadn't he? Him, standing there with his snazzy new hairdo and his slightly unbuttoned shirt and his warm hands that used to cup my face, and other places…

"Um. Thanks. You look good, too. I like your hair." Oh shit, I was starting to babble again. But not in the way that made me feel safe. It felt exactly the opposite, in fact.

He laughed gently. "Thank you. I thought it was time for a change…"

"Yeah, I mean," I continued, digging myself deeper, "not that it's just the hair, but I really like it. You look good."

"Yeah," he said, laughing again, "you just said that."

"Oh. Well. You know."

Popuri appeared in the hallway just then, and I immediately turned from Rick, so grateful for the distraction.

"Ta-da! How do I look?"

"Fine. Let's go already. You take forever," Rick told her bluntly over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs. I smiled a little at the usual sibling tension—he might've changed his hair, but a lot was still exactly the same, that was for sure.

She made a face at his retreating back and then turned to me, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "So?"

"You look perfect," I told her, meaning it. Then I forced out another sentence I wasn't so eager to say. "I'm sure that Kai will love it."

x x x

As the five of us walked to the inn—we were meeting Kai there—Popuri and I fell back behind Rick, Lillia, and Zack. Once we were far enough away to whisper, Popuri linked arms with me, pulling me closer conspiratorially.

"So, I think you're in need of a little girl talk," she said in a low voice.

"I am?" I answered, amused.

"Yes. And though normally I would be, you know, like totally grossed out about talking about my brother and his girlfriend, since it's you I'll make an exception."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I stopped walking, but she tugged me forward insistently.

"Please. You and Rick are acting totally weird. Did something happen last summer? At the wedding? You guys barely contacted each other at all this past year. And since you got here, you haven't even kissed or anything—"

"Popuri!"

"—when you used to be all over each other—"

"Um, we were never 'all over each other.'"

"—and it makes me worry, because you're my friend and yes, as much as I try to deny it, he's my brother. So spill, because I know there's something going on."

Okay fine. You're right. The thing is, I'm apparently a commitment-phobe because I freaked the second Rick even implied he wanted to marry me last year, and oh yeah, I discovered I'm kind of into your boyfriend. Just a tad.

"Nothing's going on. We're both just…growing up. It's an adjustment phase." Jeez, who was this bullshitter doing all the talking? I actually almost sounded legitimate.

"Well, you guys better make up soon—"

"I just said we're not fighting! Are you even listening to me?"

"—because it's making me jumpy being around you two when you're like this. Okay?"

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but laugh. Popuri might not know the full story, but she did know when I was full of shit, and I appreciated her willingness to call me on it.

x x x

"He's late. Of course he's late," Rick grumbled to me, but loud enough for Popuri to hear.

"He's not late. We're early," she snapped, kicking me under the table.

"Ow!" I yelped, kicking her back. "What was that for?"

"Sorry. I was aiming for _him_."

We were all seated around a table at the inn, and already it was off to a wonderful start. The sibling love fest was cut short, however, by Kai walking in right at that moment.

Popuri jumped up out of her chair and made a big show of throwing her arms around Kai. Lillia just chuckled and Zack stood to clap him on the back, while Rick steamed.

I watched Kai as he stooped to kiss Lillia on the cheek. He gave a good-natured nod towards Rick, who didn't return it, and then finally made his way around the table to me.

"Come on, Claire, don't I get a hug at least?"

There was an awkward pause where I hesitated, but everyone—excluding Rick—was staring at me imploringly. So I stood and let him put his arms around me. My eyes started to shut but it was already over and he pulled away, patting my arm and then taking a seat on the other side of Popuri. I tried to sit down too, but my chair legs were somehow entangled with Rick's, and it was a whole big production before I could sit down again. I knew it didn't actually matter, that nobody cared but me, but it made my face burn with embarrassment.

"Are you okay?" Rick murmured to me, touching my leg under the table.

I straightened myself in my seat and plastered a smile on my face. "Yeah. Fine."

Dinner was surprisingly not as awful as it could have been. We all did a careful dance, making sure Rick and Kai never had to speak directly to each other, and for some reason, I determinedly avoided saying much to Kai. There weren't any fights, or too many awkward silences.

It was before we'd ordered dessert that Lillia stifled a big yawn. "I think maybe Zack and I will go home early. You kids should stay and catch up," she said, rubbing Zack's arm affectionately.

"Are you feeling okay, Mom?" Rick asked worriedly, quickly sitting up from his slumped position.

Lillia smiled at his worry as she got to her feet. "I'm just tired, that's all. A lot of excitement today. Claire, it's so wonderful to have you here again."

"Are you sure? We haven't even gotten dessert yet," Popuri chimed in, her concern only slightly subtler than Rick's.

"I'm fine, I promise. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

We all said good night to each other and watched her leave with Zack.

"And then there were four..." Rick muttered, sitting back in his chair. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Popuri jumped to her feet.

"You know, we're feeling tired too. I think we're going to go now," she said, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder. He got the hint and stood up as well.

"What? Really?" I asked, a little bewildered. Sure, this whole dinner thing wasn't my cup of tea either, but I wasn't expecting her to bail on us.

"Yeah. Sorry." She faked a yawn. "Well, good night, guys. See you."

"Good night," Kai said over his shoulder as Popuri yanked him away.

"Wait. What the heck just happened? Why would she say good night? Aren't we going to see her later?"

"Not likely," Rick said through clenched teeth.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Popuri's taken to having sleepovers of her own."

It took me a second to process this, but then my jaw dropped. "_What_? Are you _serious_? Your mom lets that happen?"

Rick shrugged and sat back in his seat, sighing through his nose. "She doesn't know about it. Or she does and she turns a blind eye. I mean, it's not like she's living with us anymore... And besides, she's been pretty wrapped up in Zack lately, they're somehow still in honeymoon stage…" He trailed off and I gave him a questioning look. He held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm not knocking them. Zack's great, and I'm happy for both of them. Just, I'm worried about Popuri, too."

"Well, she is almost eighteen," I ventured cautiously. "So no one can really stop her from making these kinds of decisions…"

"I really don't want to talk about the kinds of 'decisions' she's making," Rick answered, not angrily but wearily.

"Yeah. Me neither."

We sat in quiet looking at each other.

"Well," he said finally, "I guess we ought to head home too."

x x x

I know, it made me a dirty, rotten hypocrite for judging Popuri, but I couldn't stop myself.

We were on each other the second the front door of Chicken Lil's. We didn't even turn the lights on. He carried me straight to the couch and laid me down and we made out like that for a while. We were still both fully clothed (okay, so maybe Rick's shirt had become a little bit more unbuttoned in the fray), but I could feel the heat from his body like I was hugging a space heater.

It was amazing. It felt like the tension from the whole day had been building up and building up, only to be released in the best way possible. How had I gone practically a year without doing this? And why had I ever wanted to jeopardize it?

"Rick," I finally managed to say, gently grabbing both sides of his to make him pause. I suddenly had the urge to apologize. "I'm sorry about how I left things last summer, when I said we should slow down. I was feeling overwhelmed, I think."

"Overwhelmed?" he asked, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. "About what?" His face was flushed and his hair was disheveled, and in that moment he looked very boyish, reminding me of the old goofy-looking Rick. It was endearing.

"About us," I said, giving him a rueful smile. "About…well, it's kind of silly, but…"

"No, what is it?" he asked, smiling back and then nuzzling my neck. "I want to hear it."

"Well, there was a time, right at the end of the summer, during the wedding…"

"Yeah?"

"I thought that…I mean, you said some stuff, and it made me think that…you wanted to get married."

He pulled himself off me then and carefully maneuvered himself into a sitting position on the other side of the couch.

I sat up quickly, feeling suddenly cold for a number of reasons. "Rick? What's wrong?"

He leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees, and stared at the floor. He was quiet for a long time. "Claire, there's…there's something we need to talk about."

Oh, shit. I didn't know what was coming next but I had a feeling, a crazy, fleeting thought, and it terrified me. "What is it?"

He got up then, without answering, and walked until he stood right in front of me.

And then he got down on one knee.

"Rick," I said, moving to stand up as quickly as I could, but he put his hands on my shoulders, lightly pushing me down.

"Please, Claire. Just hear me out."

I was trapped. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. "Okay."

"Yes, Claire, I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife. I know we're both young, and we haven't seen each other for almost a year, but I love you."

"Rick, I—"

"Please, give me a chance. I have to finish this." I shut my mouth and nodded and he took a deep breath. "I want you to know I've put a lot of thought into this. I'm not just asking this on a whim, or because I have some fantasy of what marriage would be like. And I'd really like it if you could do the same. If you could think about it before you give me an answer. And...I was hoping you could wait until the end of the summer before you give me your reply."

I was so deathly quiet while he spoke, hardly even breathing, that I thought for a second I might've forgotten how to speak myself. "Rick…this is…I don't know what to say."

"I know. I understand. I know it's intimidating, and I don't want to scare you away. But I promise I won't bother you about it after this. It's just something I think we should consider." He took my hands, and his tenderness made me want to cry. "Claire, I would be so happy to spend my life with you, you know that? I'm not trying to pressure you into this, and I really do love you. No matter what, I want you to be happy."

"Thank you," I said, and for the sake of honesty I added, "I love you, too." I paused before I spoke again. "Um. I think I should go to bed now. This is a lot, and I'm really tired."

"Okay. Yeah. That makes sense," he said, letting my hands go and getting to his feet. I could see him trembling slightly and it only made him feel worse. It had obviously taken a lot of courage for him to ask what he did. "Okay. Good night, Claire."

He kissed me again, shortly and sweetly, before I went up stairs, still in a daze.

x x x


	2. Chapter 2

I start school tomorrow so updates will definitely not be frequent from this point on... Not that they had been for a long time anyway, right? Haha. I'm disappointed, since I have a lot planned for this fic, but I have started on chapter three, so hopefully it won't be too long.

I was really surprised to see Rick in the lead in the poll on my profile. Of course, it's only 2 out of 5 votes, but still. After the events at the end of Like Gold, I thought his reputation had been gotten a bit damaged :) I'm secretly a little glad; I started out this series utterly despising him, but now I find a fancy him. A little.

Thanks for your continued support. Reviews are appreciated.

x x x

**Chapter 2**

I waited until Popuri bumped into the nightstand, loudly jostling the lamp sitting on it, before I said anything.

"I'm awake, Popuri," I said, opening my eyes to see her standing right above me. "So you don't have to keep trying to be quiet."

"Claire! Oh my gosh! I didn't mean to be so loud. I'm really sorry that I woke you up…"

I sat up, the same old sleeping bag I'd used since I'd started coming here as a kid wrapped around my legs. "No, I meant that I've been awake. I was awake when I heard the front door close…"

"Oh," she said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. I looked her over as casually as I could, taking in the clothes from yesterday, the tousled hair that had obviously only seen a few quick strokes of a brush. She looked the same otherwise—and of course she did, because it wasn't like the change she'd gone through was something you could actually see—but nevertheless the barrier between us felt present enough to be something tangible. It was like when you'd looked at the same thing every day until it became a fixture in your mind, and then one day it's turned slightly, or you notice a little detail you'd never seen before, and then it looks so completely different that it might as well be something completely different.

But I didn't want things to be completely different. I didn't want there to be a barrier. I needed her right now. So I pretended there wasn't, because it felt like the right thing to do.

"What time is it?"

"…Around five-thirty, I think."

"Oh. Early, huh?" I cringed. I hoped she didn't think I was mocking her or anything. I was just trying to make conversation. Inside my head, though, I couldn't stop the thoughts. _She stayed the whole night but left early. I wonder if he woke up to say goodbye, or she snuck out…_

She didn't show any outwards signs of offense. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"I think I need some advice," I said abruptly.

Popuri had gotten up from the bed to go to her dresser, presumably to change clothes, but she stopped when I spoke. She turned back to me with a smile on her face.

"Oh?"

"Yeah…it's about your brother."

She smiled wider but wrinkled her nose. "Oh, no. Not him again. What did he do this time?"

I pulled my sleeping bag up closer to me, so it covered my chest even though I was sitting. "He proposed to me last night."

The smile quickly fell off her face. "He what?"

"Proposed. Like, _proposed_ proposed. He asked me to marry him."

"Holy crap. What did you say?"

"I said…that I'd think about it. He wanted me to. He wants me to wait until the end of the summer to give my answer." It felt even more surreal to be talking about it like this, but at the same time, it was a comfort. It let me be more detached from the whole thing, dissect it with a third party so I could pretend for a few minutes that it wasn't actually my problem, my real, actual, happening-right-this-second, not-going-away-anytime-soon problem.

"And are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Thinking about it."

"Well, of course." I ran my hands through my hair, my fingers snagging on knots in my bed head along the way. "It's all I'm thinking about."

She got quiet then and opened a drawer of her dresser, carefully going through the clothes as she searched for whatever she was looking for. "Well," she said finally. "What would your answer be right now, if you had to give it?"

I drew my knees up to my chest and encircled my arms around them, clasping my hands together. "Honestly? Right now, I want to say no. I want to say more than no. I want to run away screaming."

She laughed, and I smiled in spite of myself. It felt good to smile a little.

"Okay. So I get that. I mean, I think that's a pretty normal response, given the circumstances." She pulled out a pair of shorts, turned them over and then refolded them, putting them back in the drawer.

"Really? Because the more I thought about it, the more I was starting to feel like a bitch. I mean, I know a lot of our relationship has been long distance, but altogether, Rick and I have been together for more than a year. And that's a long time. So I felt terrible for not feeling like that was enough, for wanting to dismiss everything right off the bat."

"You're not a bitch, Claire," Popuri said with a sigh. She had a blouse draped over one arm and a new pair of shorts in her hand. She then got a small, coy smile on her face. "Despite what I may have called you in the past." There was a pause as we both thought about the summer before last, our big fight on the beach. We'd both grown up a lot since then. Popuri then continued, like she'd never stopped. "This would be a huge step in your relationship. Marriage is a big deal, no matter how long you've been together."

"I guess you're right." I straightened my legs back out and started fidgeting with my hair again. Jeez, I felt so tense and jumpy. "Thanks. But…what do you think I should do?"

She went back over to her bed then and sat down again, putting the clothes beside her in a neat pile. "Okay. Here's the thing. First of all, I can't tell you what to do, because ultimately that's going to be your decision."

"I get that, but if you could just give me some input—"

"I know, I know. Second of all, Rick's my brother. And as much as we fight, we are pretty close and I get how his mind works. And I care about him. And for what it's worth, I'm guessing he's been feeling really lonely lately."

I thought about what she said for a moment but shook my head. "I'm sorry, but lonely enough to propose _marriage_? Is that really what you're saying?"

Popuri shrugged. "Look at it from his perspective. Our mom just moved out. That had been a big deal for him, taking care of her. Ever since our dad left, he's always seen it as his responsibility to make sure she's okay. And now she's got a new husband to do that for her, which means Rick doesn't have that role to fill anymore. Plus she doesn't live here now, and I'm sure he misses her. I know I do. And yeah, it's not like he's living in this house all by himself, but…" She trailed off and looked down at the quilt on her bed, picking at the fraying seams. "I'm not here most of the time."

I knew what she meant by that and I didn't want to go there, so I steered the conversation away from it the best I could. "But what about his friends? Karen? It's not like he doesn't have other people to turn to."

"Yeah, but I think he wants more than friends, Claire. He wants a family." _Family_. The word sounded so weighty in the context of marriage. "And you've always been like that for us, you know? Part of our family. I think he's reaching out to you for that."

"I don't think I can do it," I said, my voice coming out as a whisper. I suddenly wanted to cry, hearing Popuri explain it like that. It made me inexplicably sad.

She smiled faintly at me and picked her clothes up, standing up once more. "I don't know about that, Claire. Like I said, I can't tell you what to do. But I can tell you that he's not doing this to freak you out, or trap you, or anything like that. He's doing it because he loves you and he wants to marry you so you can be together. It's that simple for him."

I nodded, but I wasn't so sure—and even if it was true, it didn't make me feel any better. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, stepping over my sleeping bag to go to the door. "I'll see you later, okay? I'm going to go take a shower."

x x x

I expected it to be awkward with Rick after what had happened the night before. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to move past the question that seemed to loom over my every thought and action. But he made it easy on me by acting totally normal, like he didn't even have to force himself to.

I went out to the chicken coops with him to help with the morning chores, and he cracked jokes the way he always had, making me laugh right away. I never completely forgot about his proposal, but for the moment, it didn't color every interaction with him.

We had just finished up, and I was dusting my hands off on my jean shorts, listening to Rick tell me a funny story about the past year's Harvest Festival, when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned quickly—stupidly thinking maybe it would be Kai—but, possibly even better, I saw it was Jack.

"Jack!" I grinned at him and waved as he walked onto Chicken Lil's property. I glanced back at Rick questioningly, who smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead, we're done with everything," he told me, and I smiled wider and turned back to Jack.

"Claire, I heard you were back in town," he said, giving me a brief but genuine hug once I'd jogged up to him. "Sorry, I'm all sweaty from the morning chores…"

"No problem," I answered, laughing my delight at seeing him. After all the drama between him and Popuri last year, I was relieved we could emerge from it still friends. I saw him almost as a little brother, despite the fact he was almost a year older. "I am too. I don't think I could tell the difference between your sweat and my own, at this point. Not to make myself sound too irresistible, or anything."

"Oh, please, go on," he said, smirking mischievously, and I slowly becoming aware of something distinctly different about him. It wasn't a tan, because he'd always had that, and his hair still stood from his head in random defiant tufts.

I knocked him on the arm, like the change he'd undergone was something I could brush off. "So how have you been? Sorry I never wrote or anything."

"No big deal, it's not like I ever wrote you either," he said with a rueful grin. "We're both guilty. However, to make amends, I come today with a proposal…"

My stomach flopped at the word, but I knew that of course it wasn't what he meant.

"…To take you out to breakfast at the inn. On me. So we can have a chance to catch up."

"Oh, wow. Sounds fancy."

"Trust me, it's a five star establishment. Only the best for you."

"Gee, thanks." I smiled and shook my head at his teasing. I was starting to get an idea of what had come over him—it seemed like he'd gotten a big boost to his confidence. And I was definitely happy for him.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"Perfect. Let's go now, then."

x x x

It was fascinating to watch Jack talk. For starters, listening to him meant I didn't have to say as much, which was good since the proposal always seemed to linger on the tip of my tongue, ready to burst from my lips at any inopportune moment. But besides that, I also liked comparing the current Jack to the one I'd known before. He was still the same in a lot of ways—a bit goofy, and clumsy, and good-natured about seemingly everything—but that new self-assurance he had seeped into every mannerism. He sat up straighter, and didn't stumble over his words so much. And apparently, he'd managed to acquire—and then drop—a girlfriend over the past year.

"You dated Mary? And then dumped her?" My mouth hung open. "Jack! Why?"

"I didn't dump her," he corrected me, leaning back in his chair and chewing on his straw. "It was a mutual thing. I told her I wanted to focus on my farm work, she wanted to talk about books all day…"

"Books are good. What's wrong with books?"

"Books are fine, sure. But if I'm with a girl, I want to do more than just read."

"Jack!"

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," he said with a laugh. "Though that's true also."

I started chewing on my straw too—I liked then, when you discovered you had shared habits with people that others might find a little strange. "But still. I think Mary's good for you. I always pictured you with a nice, quiet girl."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I didn't realize you were picturing me with anyone other than Popuri."

I scowled at him. "Yeah, yeah. I know I pushed you two together, and I do feel responsible for what happened, but I guess… I don't know. Maybe a part of me knew that deep down, you guys weren't meant for each other. I just didn't see it at the time."

"So you could've seen me with someone else…?" He'd taken the straw from his mouth and leaned forward, and now he had that playful smile back on his face. It made me redden a bit with no explanation.

"I don't really see what you're getting at, but yes." I felt foolishly defensive. "I could've. Like I said, someone like Mary. It's a shame it didn't work out."

He relaxed back against the chair again and replaced the teeth mark ridden straw. "Well, it's not so bad. I think Karen's been hitting on me."

"Really." I took some relief from this—she and Rick were close, and it had always made me nervous. Well, that and the fact that she was completely gorgeous. I tried not to think of the actual plausibility of his statement.

"Yeah. And besides, Ann's really cute." He looked away from me for a moment, searching for the red haired waitress. He smiled and I turned to follow his gaze, my eyes landing on a blushing Ann. My jaw dropped, for the second time that morning, and I quickly looked back at him. He merely gave me a nonchalant, what's-the-big-deal shrug in response.


End file.
